There is another form of content that has made a firm place on the menu dished out to us—BULLSHIT.
It is creative, it is pervasive, it is valuable (to some).
How is bullshit content?
Bullshit is dramatic fiction—sometimes feel-good, sometimes narcissistic, and sometimes deeply offensive. Consequently, bullshit caters to all kinds of audience tastes—popular to perverse. Therefore, bullshit is dependable and saleable content.
Not everyone can imagine up fictional worlds. Likewise, not everyone can produce bullshit. It’s an art form—some are born with it, some learn it from the environment.
There are no classes or tutorials for it; you just pick it up if you have an inclination to profit without putting in the effort.
Like the most influential ideologues, the best bullshitters are those who firmly believe in their own make-believe (‘make’ themselves ‘believe’ in their own bullcrap?). If they fail to do that, it would expose the chink in their imaginary armor and might result in their lynching…
… you know … human beings do that.
These are good days for bullshitters.
Politics has always been a hot, bubbling cauldron of bullshit.
Politicians have now found force-multipliers in technology, thereby dramatically increasing their ability to fool all the people all the time (apologies, President Lincoln).
God-men and god-women are the most accomplished bullshitters (refer para above on best bullshitters).
It helps that their subject is tasteless, odorless, colorless, invisible, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Given that only they have a direct contact with the subject, it is just too easy to make up stuff.
Nowadays they serve the ‘prasad’ of their holy bullshit to their fawning, desperate, and scared audience through a multitude of media. For a small ‘donation’, they will even WhatsApp you absolution.
To a large extent, supply depends on demand, and we can’t deny that there IS a huge demand for depthless entertainment, sketchy inducement, and fraudulent succor.
There are eyes and ears everywhere, looking here and there with gaping mouths, ready to gulp down every bit of topical drug being broadcast over their TVs, newspapers, radios or smartphones.
In a world where content is king and bullshit is content, what should you do?